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as a present to a friend .. Although he had hitherto cultivated the art of design almost entirely with respect to the human figure , and had paid little attention to either landscape or
perspective , beauty and accuracy were so admirably blended in this striking view , that , with all the general effect of an elegant picture , every block of iron of which the outward
range was composed , every piece of timber of which the scaffolding was framed , and every tier of stones in either buttress , might be distinctly traced . The general admiration which he thus excited , and the marked approbation of the parties immediately concerned in the structure , induced
Mr . Clarke not only to publish it , but to undertake , as a companion , a drawing of the finished bridge- By his persevering industry , this new design was also carefully completed , and , combining elegance with accuracy , gave very general satisfaction . It may
be worthy of remark , that whilst one part of it was executed with the assistance of mathematical instruments , the other was finished by the nice discrimination of his eye . Two
handsome aquatmta plates , with a separate plan of the sectional parts , were successively offered to the public , which , affording a striking proof of his taste and ingenuity , will long perpetuate his name .
His reputation was now established on a solid basis * and , with his increasing practice , the clouds , which had obscured his early prospects , were beginning rapidly to disperse . But the intense application , which had been requisite to complete these
drawings without neglecting his professional engagements , had proved injurious to his health . The symptoms of a consumption appeared early in 1797 ; but a change of air and relaxation , were in vain ' recommended to him ,
whilst any chance of his recovery remained . In the following winter , under a strong conviction of his approach-* flg death , he committed several papers , including an Anatomical Work > lo ^ Jjich he had made # ome progress ,
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to the names . At times , indeed , the vigour of his genius seemed to be restored , and his favourite sciences still held a firm possession of his mind . In speaking one day on the early period , which nature had too often put to the pursuits of artists , he feelingly exclaimed , " she has put an indelible
stamp on me . " He received a proof engraving of his finished bridge in January 1798 , and expressed himself much pleased with the execution , and the prospect of its early appearance . But his illness was then gaining fast upon him , and he lived not to witness that event . On the 24 th of
February , he closed his short and active career , and was followed to the grave by a respectable attendance of his friends . No monumental inscription marks the site of his remains ; but the remembrance of his genius and exertions , will not soon be erased from their minds .
The character of Mr . Clarke is best described in the circumstances of his life . He displayed a strong intuitive genius , and a ready comprehension , in all his favourite pursuits ; entering with ardour and energy into matters of physiology and mechanical science , and maintaining his opinions thereon
with extraordinary force and precision . Skilful and judicious in his professional practice , he acquired the confidence of his patients in a very high degree . He was fertile in the invention , and ready in the application of mechanical expedients ; and conversant in the most useful
branches of practical mathematics . He excelled also in the correct delineation of anatomical figures , and plans of mechanism and philosophical apparatus , before his genius , as a draftsman , was so successfully developed , in his
representations of the iron bridge . To these subjects his attention was almost exclusively confined , lie was at the same time a man of honour and probity , keenly susceptible of injury and kindness , and , by the united force of his talents and his character , had conciliated a very general esteem-March 6 , 1815 . G . W . M .
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Memoir of Robert Clarke . 6 S 5
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1815, page 535, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1764/page/3/
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